The Prince and His Betrothed

Many people seem to be struggling with the concepts of preterism in relation to the traditional "already but not yet" teaching of todays church. I want to adress that here.


There was a King who sent his son, his daughter, and his servants into the surrounding kingdoms to find a bride of virtue who would marry the Prince when he came of age. This woman must be pure, for she would be the next queen, responsible for the raising of a future generation of prince and princesses. After a year long journey throughout the known world, there came a young lady of virtue, born from the common people, whom the Prince had chosen. Her beauty was fair, but nothing to be prized by your average nobility. Her strength of heart, dedication to God and family, and fairness of mind drew the Prince unwaveringly to her. No such woman could be found among the nobility, so the King consented to offer this young lady's parents his son's betrothal to their daughter.

As a down payment for the promise of marriage to the Prince, the King gave this common family a chest of gold, and the companionship of the princess to the betrothed young lady. The princess would teach her brothers future bride the ways of nobility, and would not return to her own kingdom until the marriage had taken place. This was quite a price and sacrifice for the King to pay. The King deployed a guard tosecretly watch over the young princess and the betrothed until the Prince came of age. Needless to say, there were many jealous daughters of nobility who would love nothing more than an accident take place with this young commoner.

Needless to say, the young lady had many things to learn. She would someday be the daughter of the King, heiress to the throne, and the mother to future kings. The gift given to her was greater than anything she had ever dreamed. What could she do to live up to her Father-to-be's expectations?

Ok...in my little story we have a betrothed young lady who will marry the Prince when he returns to receive her as a man of age. As a promise, no less than a taste of the riches of the kingdom, the daughter of the King as teacher, and the protection of the kingdom were given to this young betrothed.

So how do we apply this to the Bible? How would the young lady view herself?

Would she consider herself unworthy of the gift?
Would she, considering what was given as downpayment, consider herself secure in this position? Would she refer to her future position as a present reality during her training with the Princess?
Would she start to act like a princess?
Is she ALREADY an heiress?
If the King is defeated by a rival kingdom, and the Prince never comes, is she anything other than a commoner again?
In the face of scoffing nobles, would she struggle with the urge to doubt her status?

Here is the point...
Paul and the other Apostles were given a gift, responsibility, a promise. As a down payment of their gift, their promise, they received the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. They were predestined by God, protected by God, and secure in their knowledge that they were the adopted sons.
Were they unworthy? YES
With their downpayment, were they secure in their belief? YES
Did they refer to their future position as a current reality, in light of all the evidence around them? YES
Did they begin to act, and teach others to act, as Son's already? YES
Had they already inherited the kingdom? NO!
If the Judaizers had won, and Christ never returned, would they have received their gift of eternal life? Righteousness? NO!
In the face of scoffing Judaizers who held the temple, the promises, and the Sonship, would they be tempted to doubt their status even in the face of their downpayments? YES

And this was the climate. This was the battle. The Christians of the first century had nothing more than a promise until the Son made good on His promise to return. They had boldness in the light of all the evidence they were given. The downpayment was great, and because of it, they began to train themselves as Sons, refer to themselves as Sons, believe in the liberty they would receive as nobility, and eagerly await for their betrothal to become a marriage.

We do not get it if we think that anyone in the first century, before Christ returned, had salvation in any other way than a promise. Just because they refered to themselves in the future person, does not make it so. It only displayed the great faith they had that their proclimations, in light of God's downpayment, WOULD be so! Just as the betrothed was being trained by the Princess to behave like, refer to herself as, and began to believe herself to be a future Princess/Queen, so were the habits of Paul and the Christians of the first century.
God Bless
Nate